


Pono

by beaches_at_treasure_island



Series: In which Maori is slaughtered [7]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gift Fic, Hanging Out, Honesty, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied Relationships, M/M, Maori, Oliver tells people about the island, Truth, no more secrets, oliver speaks maori, quilson, sladiver - Freeform, sort of, vague mention of a sex shop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 10:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3566096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaches_at_treasure_island/pseuds/beaches_at_treasure_island
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver accidentally slips up and speaks Maori in front of his sister and his best friend. He decides that maybe now is the best time to let go of a lot of secrets. After all, secrets can destroy relationships, as he well knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pono

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BananaWombat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BananaWombat/gifts).



> So I had this wonderful comment on Māuiui by BananaWombat that gave me the idea for this fic. To quote:  
> "(I just suddenly pictured Oliver off the island, talking to someone like Thea or Tommy, and accidentally slipping into Maori, and they're like "the hell?")"  
> And then I was writing this in my head without realizing at first, before I thought that maybe I should write it down. Anyway, this is for you :)

Oliver walked through the streets of downtown Starling City, flanked by his best friend and his little sister. Tommy and Thea were chatting with each other about all the places they wanted to take Ollie to, all the shops and booths they wanted to introduce or revisit to celebrate their loved one’s homecoming.

Thea took charge, grabbing her big brother’s arm and dragging him along as Tommy led them into a store that Oliver swore hadn’t been there before he was shipwrecked on Lian Yu. The minute he entered, he froze.

“ _He aha te reinga_?” Oliver cursed. “Tommy! Why are we in here?”

‘Here’ was a shop that Thea, in all rights, should never have been able to enter. ‘Here’ was a shop that Oliver, with no thought necessary, would have avoided at all costs. ‘Here’ was a shop that Tommy, most likely, frequented often, judging by his familiarity with the shop wares – the shop wares being sex toys.

Both Thea and Tommy looked at Oliver in confusion.

“Uh, dude, what did you just say?” Tommy asked with furrowed brow.

“Yeah, Ollie. Last I checked, you couldn’t even say hello in Spanish without Google Translate or Babelfish. It’s not like you could have just learned another language in the last five years,” Thea accused.

“And what about the other day, with Raisa? You spoke Russian,” Tommy pointed out.

“Hey, why don’t we go somewhere....else,” Oliver suggested to the duo, awkwardly avoiding looking at them. Without another word, he spun on his heel and left through the door Tommy had just ushered them through.

Tommy and Thea caught up with Oliver a block later, across the road from a small, discreet, Mom-and-Pop café. Before they could pester him, Oliver gestured at the café and said, “I’ll...explain everything. Just wait until we are somewhere more private, okay?”

After the trio had ordered and received their food, Oliver led them to a small, private corner booth where he could observe the whole room while keeping eavesdropping to a minimum.

“So, where do you want me to start?” Oliver asked softly. In his mind, he was wondering how much he wanted to disclose to his family and friends. Thea and Tommy were his two closest...of anybody. They deserved the truth, all of it.

“How about what language you were speaking earlier? Or what you said?” Thea interjected.

“And how do you know other languages, anyway. You flunked Spanish in high school and college, and that is an easy language,” Tommy added.

“Okay, in order, then. I was speaking Maori, just then,” Oliver began. “It’s a language primarily found with the Maori people of New Zealand, though it can also be found anywhere the Maori people migrated to – Australia, for instance. What I said earlier, ‘ _He aha te reinga_ ,’ essentially means ‘What the hell.’ Like you pointed out earlier, Tommy, I also speak Russian, though I can speak Mandarin as well.” Oliver paused, drank down the last of his coffee, then cleared his throat as he prepared to tell Thea and Tommy about his experiences on Lian Yu. “As to how I learned these languages... I wasn’t alone on the island, like I told everyone.” ‘ _Ko ki ahau te aroha o toku ora_ ,’ Oliver thought to himself, visions of Slade flashing through his mind.

For a moment, his audience was silent, letting this knowledge sink in. Then chaos erupted.

“You – what – how?” Thea stuttered, eyes wide.

“But you said...” Tommy trailed off.

“I know what I said. But I didn’t want anyone to find out what had happened to me,” Oliver explained gently.

Thea gasped. “Wait, so those scars...?”

“What scars?” Tommy asked as Oliver nodded sadly at his little sister.

“Yes, Speedy. I got those from some of the men on the island.”

“What scars?” Tommy repeated insistently.

“How about I show you something?” Oliver said, changing the subject. “Tommy, you remember how I told Detective Lance about the hooded guy?”

“Yeah?” Tommy replied uncertainly.

“You’re going to like this,” Ollie smirked. “C’mon, _iti tuahine, e toku tenia_ , let’s head over to the Foundry.

**Author's Note:**

> Maori to English Translations:  
> Pono – truth  
> He aha te reinga? – What the hell?  
> Ko ki ahau te aroha o toku ora. – The love of my life was with me.  
> iti tuahine, e toku tenia – little sister, my brother
> 
>  
> 
> HEY YOU, YES YOU! To all my readers: 
> 
> I was wondering if you would like a rewrite of the show but where Slade comes back for Ollie in S1? I'm currently parsing out the first episode which will take the longest to get through as (obviously) it sets up the entire story. 
> 
> So far I'm thinking it will be about 5k words for the first episode, then I'll probs breeze through all the other episodes and possibly even make the fic completely divergent from the show. But it's really all up to you guys!
> 
> Let me know in the comments below, please! :)


End file.
